It is known that numerous aircraft, in particular those intended for civil transport, are equipped with thrust reversers making it possible to improve the braking of said aircraft during landing. These thrust reversers are associated with the engines of the aircraft and they are controllable so as to be able to go from an inactive retracted position to an active deployed position and, conversely from said active deployed position to said inactive retracted position. In the active deployed position, a thrust reverser receives the jet of the associated engine and reverses said jet, thus allowing it to participate in the braking of the aircraft.
In a general manner, the engines of an aircraft are equipped with a thrust reverser. The activation of the thrust reverser of an engine is triggered by the pilot by means of a member, of the lever type, disposed on the throttle corresponding to this engine. An action on this lever is possible only if the throttle is in a position corresponding to the idling of the engine.
The extra braking afforded to the brakes of an aircraft on the ground by a thrust reverser is very considerable, so that, in particular in the case of a multi-engine aircraft, the braking capacity of all the thrust reversers together is overkill. Now, each thrust reverser exhibits a relatively considerable mass and its cost is high. The awkward situation thus prevails whereby the aircraft has to support a mass and costs relating to apparatus—the thrust reversers—that give rise to an unnecessary overkill of braking power. Moreover, the thrust reversers exhibit a non-zero risk of untoward deployment in flight, which may prove to be catastrophic for the aircraft.